Bombing with Mike Dorval

He's eating it! She's dying! He's BOMBING! For a stand-up comic there's no pain quite like a joke that bombs. Every comic bombs and in Bombing with Mike Dorval we seek to find out WHY! Every week a new comedian joins Mike to dive into the nitty gritty of joke writing. They'll explore the mechanics of crafting of great joke and the agony of a watching a joke they loved, nurtured, and thought would soar come crashing to Earth. It's a deep dive into the agony and ecstasy of writing jokes.

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Our lst Bombing for a while is with someone I've been wanting to talk to. I'm always fascinated by brilliant people who choose to go into comedy and Jiayong fits that description. We talk about going from grad school to stand up, comedy in China, and he teaches me what "cross talk" is.

What's that? You want some uninformed sports commentary? You'd like it to have some tech issues? Can I interest you in some Super Bowl predictions even thought the game was two weeks ago because we couldn't get this episode cleaned up until today? YOU GOT IT! Bombing favorites Dan Boulger and James Patterson joined me to talk sports and comedy in what may become a regular thing if you guys like it. Honestly, we may just keep doing it out of spite.

We had to battle technical difficulties and chatty neighbors but it was worth it to have a really fun talk with HBOs Langston Kerman. From Chicago to a masters in poetry to teaching to headlining clubs and acting in the series "Insecure" it's been a really fascinating comedy trip that ended with a bomb in Walmart.

How do you go from deaf until you're 40 to professional comedian, booker, and producer? That's the journey of Rhode Island's Mike Murray. We talk about telling jokes you can't hear, the technology that allowed him to live his dream, and we always have time for a bomb!

Alana Devich is an amazing person who USED to be an amazing comedian. She's sick, so we put together a benefit at The Comedy Studio to talk about her comedy, ding benefits for so many friends who are hurting and to talk about comedians leaving comedy. Should we try to talk them out of it, or envy them for getting out?!?! One thing we agree on? Alan is amazing and needs to get better! Featuring- Kelly Macfarland, Tim McIntire, Val Kappa, and another comedy escapee, Melane Welch.

From the London Scool of Economics to stand up comedy? And his parents were ok with that? His parents ENCOURAGED that?!?! Rohan Padhye is a lucky guy because he knows that only comedy is going to make him happy. We cover the long strange trip, find out why his 28th year was so damn good and try to save a bomb about the "r" word that is a different "r" word then you might think, in this weeks Bombing.

Ok, I found out that Nick Chambers can sing, has had some very interesting days gigs, and does NOT think he's a millennial. But he is. He's not a "millennial" but he is a millennial. At his heart though, he's an old school, hysterical comedian and we got to the heart of how that happened.

I'll be honest...I did not know about the stand up comedy scene in Nebraska. But it produced Casey Crawford who just got back from Just For Laughs in Montreal, so they're doing something right in Omaha. Casey and I talked about growing up in the midwest, moving to the the East Coast and a bomb you should avoid if you have a "thing" about clowns.

Utah to Vegas to Boston...it's not the typical comedy path and it produced a comic who's anything but typical in Xazmin Garza. We got talk about her past as a columnist and her future in comedy and a VERY NSFW bomb that she just won't give up on.

I got meet Kwasi Mensah at his "Laughing Liberally" show in Boston and came away impressed with his comedy and point of view. He's gotten some added attention recently because of a confrontation with a Trump supporting heckler. Is this a sign of things to come? How did he feel about it and what should someone do in a situation like that? We did a different kind of deep dive this week to explore those questions.

Jimmy Tingle made his first appearance on Johnny Carson on December 15th,1988 and has appeared on pretty much every show you can name since then. He's been one of the most influential political satirists for 30 years and we got talk about the next few years are looking like for him and the world of comedy on this weeks Bombing.

Where have you seen Jon Jon Fisch? The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Last Comic Standing, Premium Blend, some of the finest temples along the East Coast and more. I got to know him when he was beating me in The Boston Comedy festival and we got to relive that wonderful memory when he was in Boston for Thanksgiving.

I had been trying to talk to Giulia Rozzi ever since her album "True Love" came out. I finally got to when she came home to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving and got to talk about jokes, her show, "First Set" and we just can't seem to avoid politics in 2016...

We've talked a little about comedy contests in the past and on this episode we talk to James Scott Patterson as he's about to compete in the semi-finals of the Boston Comedy Festival and former $10,000 champion Dan Boulger. How do you approach a contest? Is it different from a standard set? Is it more stressful? We cover a wide range of topics and there's even a guest appearance by Dave Walsh!

One thing every comedian has heard since Donald Trump won the election is "You must be excited! You're going to have lots of material!" Niki Luparelli and I were less than excited. We decided to address the elephant in the room and talk about what comedy was going to be like in this post trump America.

Comics get there late. Where? Wherever they're supposed to be. But you can't get mad at Emily Ruskowski because she was probably late due to saving a child in her other life as a social worker. How do you bring the heavy stuff she deals with in her everyday life into a comedy stage? How was opening for Gilbert Gotfried? And how does a joke go from being your closer to being your biggest bomb and regret? Let's get some answers....

How may people can die in a joke before it stops being funny? What if they're family members? My guest this week is Chris Pennie and we'll deal with this controversy while breaking down a bomb that explores the age old feud between doctors and mechanics while trying to see what competitive bodybuilding can teach us about stand-up!

Jordan Handren-Seavey took one for the team this week. His voice was ragged, he was about to do a show, and he STILL stepped up to talk about his new album, his favorite bomb, and what it's like to wear the best chapeau in Boston.

This week we have a group chat following a special show at Megan's House which is a group treatment facility for women. How is it different from a typical show? Kelly McFarland, Emily Ruskowski, Jack Burke, Eric Taylor, and Phoebe Angle take the time to talk about a really cool and unique kind of comedy.

If I'm on. Show with Kenice Mobley I check where she is on the lineup so I never miss her. Some comics bring pure heat. Comedy fastballs. Kenice is great because she throws curve and changeups that surprise you and always find the strike zone. Today we talk about her past and future and she even spends time grilling me!

If you could buy stock in a comic, I'd be buying stock in Sam Evans. I got talk to him after he headlined a show and I left very impressed. He was just featured on New Faces in the Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival and is going on the road all the time. I caught up with him after he headlined a show in Massachusetts and we got to talk all things comedy...

One of the reasons I like Sam Ike so much is that he can have the smartest room in Cambridge rolling but also kill it in a bar 20 miles from the nearest highway. We sat down in the bar of our favorite Chinese food place/Comedy club to talk about his improv career, moving into stand up and the shows he produces that are somewhere in between. We also see if we can save a bomb about a friend dying and how Kickstarter really works!

Something a little...well, very different this week. A handful of comics, including your weekly Bombing tour guide, arrived for a show that the audience forgot to attend. What happens when the show doesn't go? You get half a dozen comics, a live mic, and some very NSFW storytelling including the great Boston Comedy Death Hoax!

This week we are live on Commonwealth Ave with Rob Crean (and a guest appearance by John Paul Rivera who was only vaping tobacco!). We discuss the difference between being a comedian and a humorist, producing shows and albums, and we do it all while celebrating a very special Allston Christmas!

I love talking to comics who've been writing jokes for a while and can look back on their old jokes and compare them to the new, but I thought it'd be fun to mix things up little bit. Luke Touma was getting ready to leave for a tour of Hawaii when we talked about his brief but action packed career in Boston and his plans for the future in Hollywood and a bomb that's still fresh enough to feel the singe marks!